Factors that impact the implementation of patient reported outcomes in routine clinical care for peripheral artery disease from the patient perspective

Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are well-suited for the longitudinal assessment of quality of life, including depression and physical limitations associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD) that are not routinely assessed in clinical care. This study was designed to gain the patient perspective to facilitate implementation of PROMs into clinical practice for PAD management.

Twenty-three patients with PAD at a single vascular surgery clinic were enrolled for a qualitative interview, July–December 2022. Patients completed PROMIS Physical Function and Depression assessments before undergoing semi-structured interviews. Two researchers used an inductive thematic analysis to analyze emergent themes from transcribed interviews.

The average age of participants was 69.5 ± 8.2 years; 91% were Caucasian, and 39% were female. Qualitative interviews revealed three implementation-related themes: (1) patient preferences on the timing and type of PROMs collected, (2) PROMs applications in outpatient PAD care, including discussions with their physician, and (3) the clinical value of PROMs. Overall, patients with PAD prefer PROMs related to quality of life and physical function over other domains. Patients appreciate the convenience to complete PROMs before their appointment. Patients would like to verbally discuss meaningful score changes with their providers without the use of graphical aids. Most patients believe PROMs are valuable in their clinical care if their physician reviews the results and the PROM questions apply to their disease symptoms.

Patient preferences inform future successful implementations and will improve patient completion rates for the collection and clinical use of PROMs in PAD clinical care.